


Threats

by motherbearof3



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Romance, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-03-30 17:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13956972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motherbearof3/pseuds/motherbearof3
Summary: Rafael and Olivia have gotten married. Now he's getting emails threatening their new family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this months ago and it stalled out until recently when I revisited it. Please let me know what you think.
> 
> As always, the characters belong to NBC. I just borrow them to play.

Threats weren’t anything new to Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba. Most times he didn’t even see the ones that arrived in the mail. Carmen opened and forwarded them directly to the NYPD detective assigned to follow up and determine if they were legitimate. The emails were another thing. As a public servant, his work email address was available to anyone. Fortunately he had an excellent spam filter and the majority of those never made it to his inbox. Once a week or so he would forward the contents of the spam folder to the same detective.

But as he opened his personal email on his phone that morning over breakfast, there was a message from an address he didn’t recognize, with the subject of “I know.” He frowned, tapping it. Then his frown deepened. _What the hell was this?_

 

**_To: cubancoffee70  
_** **_From: 1whoknows  
_ ** ******_Subject: I know_**

**_I know, Counselor._ **

**_I know you married NYPD SVU Lieutenant Olivia Benson._ **

**_I know that you adopted her son, Noah as your own._ **

**_You should be careful. It would be a shame if something happened to your new little family._ **

 

The time stamp on the email was less than an hour ago. He quickly forwarded it. His heart was pounding. More from anger than fear. _How did someone get his personal email address?_ Very few people had it. He didn’t even use it for online purchases.

He stood, smoothing his tie and walked into Noah’s room where Olivia was helping him get ready for school; making sure his homework and the library books that need to be returned made it into his backpack.

“Liv.” He stopped in the doorway. She looked up from the superhero backpack and could see something was wrong by the set of his jaw and his posture.

“Sweetie, get your shoes on and come out to the living room,” she said to the boy, ruffling his hair. Then she took her husband by the arm and led him down the hall.

“Rafael, what’s wrong?” Wordlessly, he held out his phone with the email on the screen. “I need my glasses to read that.”

She grabbed them from the coffee table where she’d left them the night before with a magazine and slipped them on. Now that the words on the screen were in focus, she read the email and her eyes grew wide behind the lenses, her lips tightening in anger.

“How did someone get your email address?” She handed the phone back to him, and pushed her glasses on top of her head.

“That’s the million dollar question, _mi amor_ ,” he replied. “Along with how do they know we got married?”

They had been married for just two weeks and the only people who knew, other than the judge who performed the ceremony, were his mother, Lucy, Noah, the district attorney and the chief of police. Not even Deputy Chief Dodds or her detectives had been told yet. They were waiting to make that announcement before they left on a short honeymoon vacation at the end of the week.

Before they could continue the conversation, Noah came down the hall with his backpack.

“I’m ready,” he said.

“We’re going to drive today, _mijo_ , instead of walking,” Barba told the boy. One of the perks of being senior assistant district attorney was a car with a driver if he wanted it. He didn’t use it often. Mostly in inclement weather. But they would use it today. He was texting the service as he spoke.

“Okay,” Noah said. He had been in the car once or twice before. It was fun to go to school like that. The only thing better would be in one of his mom’s police cars with lights and siren.

They waited downstairs in the apartment building until the car pulled up at the curb. Barba held Noah’s hand and walked him quickly to the car while Olivia looked around to discern whether they were being observed. She didn’t see anything unusual.

Leaning into the car to kiss Noah, she said, “Have a good day at school, sweet boy. Lucy will pick you up.”

“Aren’t you coming, Liv?” her husband asked.

“No. I’m going to stay here and look around a little more. I’ll see you later. You have court today, don’t you?” He nodded. “Then I’ll see you there.”

She watched him in court as much as she could. She always had. Rafael grabbed her arm.

“Be careful.”

“I always am.”

Rolling his eyes, he replied, “If you say so.”

He wanted desperately to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but out in the open wasn’t the best place at the moment. Especially if they were being watched. He settled for sliding his hand down her arm to grasp hers and give it a squeeze. She returned the gesture and gazed into those green eyes she fell in love with years ago.

“Rafa --”

“I know, Liv.” One last squeeze of her hand, that little half smile he used only with her and he ducked into the car beside Noah. She closed the door and rapped on the roof. The driver pulled away.

Olivia watched the car merge into traffic and move down the street. Once her son and husband were safely away, she mentally shifted into detective mode and started surveying the buildings that surrounded their home more carefully. There were several buildings where apartments were being renovated and she could see construction workers coming and going with ease. Anyone could walk into them and take up a position of surveillance without being noticed. But the email didn’t indicate they were being watched at home. It said the writer knew they’d gotten married and that Barba adopted Noah. Nonetheless, she took out a notebook and wrote down the names of the contractors she could see on work trucks, intending to check up on the employees.

At the precinct, Olivia called Fin into her office and asked him to close the door.

“What’s up?” asked the man who had known her the longest at SVU.

“Fin, I need to ask you for a favor. And I need you to keep everything I tell you to yourself until I say otherwise.”

“Anything for you. You know that, Liv.”

She sat down on the couch and patted the cushion. “Sit with me.” He joined her with a frown, now wondering what was going on.

Olivia took a breath and looked him in the eye and said, “Rafael and I got married two weeks ago.” Then she waited for his reaction. After a moment, he cracked a grin.

“That all? It’s about time. You been wearin’ that engagement ring long enough. Congratulations!” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks, Fin. Other than you, only the DA and the chief knows. Not even Dodds knows yet. We were going to tell you all this week because we’re leaving for a short honeymoon on Saturday. But Rafael got an email this morning and I need you to help me look into it.”

She went on to explain what the email said and that it went to his personal account, not his work one. Then she gave him the names of the contractors working in the buildings around the apartment and asked him to look into all the employees.

“I’m on it. Don’t you worry. We’ll find out who’s behind this.” Fin assured her. “And I won’t tell anyone else about you bein’ a married woman until you give me the go ahead.”

After checking on some other cases, Olivia went to the courthouse and slipped into the back row just as the bailiff called the room to order. If it was her case she’d be up closer to the table where Rafael sat, but since it wasn’t, she stayed to the back. She loved to watch him work the courtroom. Like an actor on a stage, he captured and held the attention of both the jury and the people in the gallery. When the judge called a recess, she met him in the hallway and they walked to one of the small empty rooms used by the attorney’s and Olivia told him she’d enlisted Fin’s help.

“He won’t tell anyone about us, but I’m thinking we should just go ahead and make the announcement earlier than we planned,” she said. “Then we can get you a protective detail.”

“I don’t need a protective detail, Liv.”

“Rafa --” He cut her off by holding up his hand.

“I’ll take a protective detail if you do,” Rafael countered, expecting an argument and he was shocked when she nodded.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” His eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “All you feeling alright?”

“I know it’s for the best and technically mine will be just one of my detectives. But I’d feel better with someone at Noah’s school.”

“Me too.” His phone vibrated and, thinking it was a reminder that court was about to resume, pulled it from his pocket. Instead the screen showed an email notice. For his personal email. Seeing the look on his face, Olivia asked,

“What?”

Turning the phone so she could see with him he opened the email. She squinted at the screen.

 

**_To: cubancoffee70  
_** **_From: 1whoknows  
_ ** ******_Subject: Looking good_**

**_You’re looking good in the courtroom today, counselor. That was a nice opening statement._ **

**_Tell Lt. Benson she looks nice in that blue blouse._ **

 

“What the hell, Rafa?”

“The son of a bitch is here!”

“We need to lockdown the courthouse,” she told him. “You go talk to the judge. I’m going back to the courtroom.”

“Not by yourself, Liv. Find a court officer.” She nodded as she opened the door, him on her heels. He paused before following her into the corridor. “Hey.”

Olivia turned back to him. Rafael took a step closer, put a hand at the nape of her neck and pressed a quick, fierce kiss on her mouth; not caring if anyone saw. Unspoken words of love were exchanged between his green eyes and her brown.

While she went in search of a court officer, he went down the hall to Judge Barth’s chambers. Her clerk was puzzled why the ADA was coming to see the judge when court was scheduled to resume in minutes. Barba simply insisted he needed to see her and would only explain to Judge Barth the reason. The clerk disappeared into the judge’s chambers and returned after a moment, holding the door open for him.

“Mr. Barba, what is so urgent that you need to see me before we reconvene?” asked Judge Barth.

She had removed her robes and while the blouse that was visible beneath it in court was conservative and professional looking, it was tucked into a pair of well worn jeans. She was sitting in the upholstered chair near her desk, reading glasses perched on her nose and a novel whose cover showed a man with a bare chest closed on her lap, finger marking her spot. Rafael pretended he saw nothing.

“We need to lock down the courthouse, your honor,” he said without preamble, sitting in the hard chair nearby. She raised her eyebrows.

“Care to explain why?”

“My family has been threatened and we have reason to believe the suspect is in the courthouse,” Barba told her.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Barba. Your family?” Judge Barth frowned.

“Yes, your honor. Lieutenant Olivia Benson and I were married two weeks ago. I got these emails today.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and showed her the first email. When Judge Barth read the second one, her lips tightened into a line. She handed the phone back to Rafael, stood and walked around her desk. Putting her novel in a drawer, she picked up the receiver on her desk phone and punched an extension.

“Code Deadbolt,” she said. “Yes, I understand.” Hanging up, she looked at Barba, who had stood as well. “Now we stay put until the building has been swept and cleared.”

“You may be staying put, your honor, but I’m going to find my wife,” he told her, mentally daring her to try and stop him. She looked at the intense look on his face and having seen it before in the courtroom, knew there was no arguing with the senior ADA. Judge Barth sat down behind her desk and pulled her novel from the drawer again.

“Be careful, counselor,” she said, and he knew he’d been dismissed.

Returning to the hallway, which was now eerily quiet, he pulled out his phone and texted Olivia.

_Where are you?_

_Courtroom. No one here._

_Stay put. I’m coming. Courthouse has been locked down._

He quickly made his way back to the courtroom. Olivia was inside, talking to a court officer near the table he’d sat at only a short time before. When she saw him arrive, she patted the other man on the shoulder, thanking him for his help. Nodding, he left through a door near the witness stand. They heard it lock behind him. Their eyes met and he strode quickly to her and pulled her into his arms. There was no time for a long embrace. There was work to do, but both needed the comfort of the other’s touch and for just a moment, they indulged themselves. Then Olivia stepped out of his arms.and gave herself a little shake and straightened her blazer. She looked around the room.

“He could have been anywhere in the Gallery, Rafa,” she said, walking to the rows of chairs.

“You were in the back on this side,” he replied. “He’d have to have been on the other side to be able to see you when you came in. To see the color of your blouse.”

She nodded and crossed the room to the other rows of chairs behind where the defense attorney and his client sat. She walked each row, looking for anything unusual or left behind when the court recessed. Other than a gum wrapper, she found nothing. Her phone vibrated and she looked at the screen.

“Building’s been cleared. No one suspicious. ID’s checked out.”

He drew a breath through his nose and exhaled. Then he reached up and loosened his tie.

“I doubt we’re going to reconvene today. How about some lunch and we’ll pick up Noah from school and give Lucy the afternoon off?”

She linked her arm through his.

“I like that idea. We can talk to the principal about the security detail then, too.”

They were watched walking out of the courthouse arm in arm. As they disappeared from view down the sidewalk, the watcher opened an email program and began to type.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious threatening emails continue.

Rafael and Olivia had just started eating when both their phones went off with an audible tone. Very few things were set up on their phones for an audible tone regardless of whether the phone was on silent. Among them were notifications from Noah’s school. Simultaneously, they flipped over their phones. There was a text notification from the school. Olivia’s hand hovered over the screen, trembling slightly. Her husband reached over and took her hand in his, opening the text on his phone with his other.

**_Parents and Guardians, the school has been placed on temporary lockdown due to an unidentified threat. All students are safe and accounted for. Please do not come to the school for your child. You will be notified when the lockdown is lifted._ **

He spun the phone on the table so she could see it and met her eyes, both knowing exactly from where the threat had come: the same person who sent the emails. Rafael threw some bills down on the table and they rushed from the restaurant. Since they had walked from the courthouse they needed to take a cab to Noah’s school. Olivia wished they were in her car so she could use the lights to get through mid-day traffic. She clutched Rafael’s hand, knee jiggling every time the cab slowed.

“It’s okay, Liv. It said the children are safe,” he let go of her hand to put it around her shoulders.

“I know, I know.” The hand he’d released grabbed a handful of his trousers and he hoped the wool wouldn’t wrinkle too badly. “I just want to see for myself and find out what the threat was.”

Olivia thought she had gotten over when Sheila Porter took Noah, but the thought of a threat against her son brought all those fears flooding back. Those hours when she didn’t know where or how her son was were the worst ones in her life. Worse than being held by William Lewis. She didn’t ever want to relive that. After what seemed an eternity, the pulled up at the school and she was out of the cab before the driver had come to a complete stop. Rafael paid the fare and was on her heels, calling for her to wait for him. He needn’t have worried she would get too far because she was stopped at the door by a security guard.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, the school is on lock down. We will notify you when it’s lifted,” he was saying as Rafael reached her. She pulled her badge from her belt.

“Lieutenant Benson, Manhattan SVU. This is my husband, ADA Rafael Barba. Our son goes to school here. We’ve received some threats and we believe the one the school got was made by the same person.”

My husband. Our son. The words were new enough they still gave her a little thrill, no matter the reason she was saying them. Years ago she honestly never expected to be able to say them; let alone in connection with Rafael Barba. But there she was. She caught his eye and knew he was feeling the same way.

“I didn’t realize, Lieutenant, I’m sorry. I’ll radio the office and let the principal know you’re coming,” the officer told them, opening the door and ushering them inside the building before resuming his post outside.

The interior of the school was unusually quiet. Normally you could hear children’s voices coming from classrooms and the gymnasium. The silence made Rafael uneasy. He put his hand at Liv’s waist as they walked to the main office. As promised, the principal was expecting them and they were ushered into her office by the school secretary.

“Lieutenant Benson, Mr. Barba, it’s nice to see you again. I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances.”

“As do we, Mrs. Somerhaulder,” said Rafael. “I don’t know how much the officer told you, but we believe the threat the school got is related to the ones we received this morning.”

Gesturing for the couple to sit opposite her desk, the principal reseated herself and listened while he and Olivia explained about the first email, then the second one at the courthouse and its subsequent lockdown.

“I received an email also,” she told them. “It didn’t mention Noah specifically but -- well, here, read it for yourself.” She held out a sheet of paper. Olivia took it and held it so she and Barba could read it together.

  
******To: DSomerhaulder  
From: 1whoknows  
Subject: Recess**

 ** _It might be a good idea to have recess inside today. You wouldn’t want something to happen to any of your students. Especially the first graders. It wouldn’t make their parents very happy considering some of them are police officers and lawyers_**.

  
“We have quite a few students whose parents are attorneys, but Noah is the only one who has a parent that is a police officer,” Dana Somerhaulder told them. “The school is on lockdown and we’re trying to keep the day as normal as possible. But we’re keeping them quiet and away from the windows.”

“Can you please forward the email to this address?” Rafael wrote the email address of the detective to whom he had sent the other ones on the paper before handing it back to the principal. She turned to her computer and did it immediately. “Thank you.”

“Anything I can do to help,” she told them. “Do you think the school is being watched?”

“It’s possible,” Olivia told her. “We’ll put surveillance outside the building and we want to put an officer in the school with Noah. Plainclothes, of course. I’d prefer to do it so that he doesn’t realize what’s going on. I don’t want to frighten him or any of the other children.”

Mrs. Somerhaulder nodded. “We can put the officer in his classroom as a student teacher. We have them frequently so no one will think anything of it.”

“Perfect,” Rafael said.

Olivia excused herself to an adjacent conference room to call and make arrangements for the plainclothes officer as well as surveillance outside the school building, while her husband and the principal continued to talk. Their conversation switched to Noah and his school work and any possible adjustments he might be having to his mother and Rafael getting married. She returned a short while later and explained the surveillance would be in place by dismissal that day and Noah’s security detail would report in the morning. Barba arranged for his car to come to the school — now driven by a plainclothes officer — when school was dismissed and they went and got in it in the pick up line so Noah wouldn’t suspect anything was amiss. He was happy to see his parents getting him instead of Lucy and asked if they could go for ice cream.

“Not today, _mijo_ ,” Rafael told him as they merged into traffic to make their way home. “But how about if we make sundaes for dessert after dinner? I know you mother just got a shipment of her favorite flavor. Maybe she’ll share.” He winked at the boy, both knowing what Olivia’s reaction to that statement would be.

“No way boys. Remember what happened to Eddie when he ate my strawberry ice cream?” she retorted with mock anger. “There’s plenty of vanilla and chocolate in the freezer for you two.”

Once they were home, Noah sat down to do his spelling homework and Rafael worked on some questions for when the trial resumed the next day while Oliva checked in with Fin. She wanted to see if he had learned anything about the employees of the companies she given him the names. He’d found nothing that threw a red flag about any of them so far, he said, but was still running checks. Olivia tried to push the worry from her mind and set to preparing dinner for her family. After the promised ice cream sundaes, a bath and several stories, Noah was finally tucked in and the newlyweds retreated to their own bedroom.

“I can’t believe it was only this morning you got that email,” she said, running a brush through her hair and and pulling it back in a clip. “It seems like forever.”

“I know, _mi amor,_ ” Rafael agreed, stripping off his vest and unbuttoning his shirt.

She watched him for a moment, admiring his chest in the undershirt he wore beneath, before going into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she was finished, they traded places. Pulling the clip from her hair, Olivia settled against the pillows and reached for her phone on the nightstand, thinking she’d take her turn in their current round of Words With Friends. Slipping her reading glasses on, she swiped the phone awake and saw a notification in her personal email. Opening that app instead of the game, she tapped the email not paying attention to the subject line until it filled the screen.

**_To: omb4015_  
From: 1whoknows  
Subject: Sweet dreams**

**_You think you’re so smart, Lieutenant Benson! Or should I call you Mrs. Barba? You are changing your name aren’t you? Benson-Barba is a bit of a mouthful. How do you like being married? Is it everything you thought it would be?_ **

**_You thought by locking down the courthouse you could stop me. That didn’t work out so well, did it? Too bad Noah couldn’t go outside for recess today. It was such a nice day._ **

**_I hope you and your little family have sweet dreams tonight, Lieutenant_**.

Dropping the phone, Olivia shot out of the bed and dashed from the room as Rafael opened the bathroom door.

“Liv? What’s wrong?” He followed, and found her standing in the dark living room looking out the window to the street where he knew the unmarked car was parked with their security detail. When she didn’t reply, he put his hands on her waist, making her jump.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. They’re out there. We’re safe.” He said softly and kissed her bare shoulder beside the strap of the tank top she wore. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist. Then she said,

“I got an email, Rafael.”

“What?” His grip tightened. “When?” The gentleness was gone from his voice, replaced by anger and concern.

“Just now when you were in the bathroom.”

“Show me.”

He dropped his hands and let her lead the way to their bedroom, stopping first at Noah’s room to peek inside at the boy sleeping soundly, an arm curled around his stuffed elephant, Eddie. She would have stood there watching him, so he grasped her arm and steered her away. Back in their room, she picked up her phone from the bed and handed it to him. Rafael’s face wore his expressionless courtroom mask as he read, but she knew he was affected by the way his fingers went white at how hard he gripped the device. Without speaking, he forwarded the email, then tossed it onto the bed with such force it bounced. Then he began to pace and Olivia could almost hear the gears turning in his head. She allowed him to make four passes between the bed and bathroom before she spoke.

“Talk to me, Rafa. What are you thinking?”

He stopped pacing and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to choose words that wouldn’t piss her off.

“I’m thinking — I’m feeling like somehow this is my fault. If I hadn’t — we hadn’t -- you and Noah….you’d be safe.”

“Oh no. No you don’t, Barba.” The last name. She’d read between the lines and knew what he was trying not to say. “Don’t go thinking that if we hadn’t gotten married, hell, hadn’t gotten together in the first place this wouldn’t have happened.

“We don’t know what this idiot’s motivation is or even if he would actually take any action to harm us. This could all be a bunch of bluster that amounts to nothing. But don't ever,” she took two steps to stand in front of him and took his face in her hands to look him in the eyes, “ever think you and I aren’t meant to be together.

“You are the other half of my soul, Rafael Barba. It may be a line from a movie, but you really do complete me. For better or worse, right? Well in our line of work the worse might sometimes outweigh the better. But we will always have each other. Always.” Then her eyes twinkled and she smiled at him. “So don’t think you’re getting rid of me this easily.”

He drew her into his arms thinking, as he always did, how perfectly their bodies fit together. From their very first embrace, there was never any awkwardness about where whose hand, arm or leg was going to go. Perhaps it was because barefoot they were nearly the same height. Rafael liked to think it was because they were designed for each other. They were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, spoons in a drawer. Two parts of a whole. Only totally complete when together.

“ _Lo siento, mi amor_. I’m sorry.” He rested his forehead against hers. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right.” She poked him in the ribs where she knew he was ticklish, making him smile and capture her hands in his.

“Only when I’m not.” Raising her hands, he pressed a kiss on inside of each wrist over her pulse point and felt it speed up under his lips. He straightened her arms and kissed the insides of each elbow. “And that’s not very often.”

He placed her hands behind his neck and trailed his hands down her arms to her bare shoulders, making her shiver. She combed her fingers through the hair at the back of his head and leaned in to almost touch his lips with hers.

“If I concede you’re correct on that point, counselor, what do I get in return?” she said.

Rafael bridged the tiny gap between their mouths and captured hers with a kiss that made her knees weak, sliding his hands around to cup her firm behind and pull her hips hard against his, letting her feel how much he wanted her. Olivia shuffled backward, pulling him along, not letting his lips leave hers until she felt the bed at the backs of her legs. Then she toppled onto the mattress, taking him with her and opening her knees for him to position between them, supporting his weight on his elbows.

“Have I told you lately how much I love you, Mrs. Barba?”

“Why don’t you show me, Mr. Barba,” she replied, running her hands beneath his shirt and pulling his weight down on her, putting threats from her mind for at least the time being.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia and Rafael continue to investigate who is behind the threatening emails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I haven't touched this in almost a year! But I just couldn't figure out where it needed to go. Until this week. Then I took a page from a fellow writer's book for when your plot is stalled. It's a short chapter, but keeps things moving. Now that I have direction, another chapter shouldn't be far behind. I stole some canon about Judge Barth's desk that I think is fabulous! Please let me know what you think and thanks for reading!

Morning came all too soon and it with the reality of what they were dealing with the day before. Olivia focused on getting Noah ready for school, trying to keep things as normal as possible for him. Rafael closed their bedroom door to call the detective and see if they had been able to trace the emails. As he suspected, they had no information yet. They were coming from the sender’s phone which didn’t provide many clues to follow. The courthouse was following higher security procedures and checking all IDs. Courtrooms were closed to spectators. Only the attorneys, defendants, plaintiffs, jury and courtroom personnel were permitted in the rooms. Witnesses were kept under close watch and non law enforcement ones were escorted from the building once their testimony was complete.

Judge Barth summoned Rafael to her chambers before they reconvened. When he opened the door, he found her adjusting the Velcro on a bulletproof vest. She looked up.

“Mr. Barba, good, come in.”

When she was satisfied with the vest, she pulled her black robe over it and looked in the mirror on the wall to adjust the collar of her blouse. When she was done, you couldn’t tell she wore the protective barrier beneath. Turning to the ADA she smiled.

“What? Didn’t know I took precautions? I’ve been wearing this in the courtroom since Drake.” Barth waved her hand toward a block of Lucite on her desk that stood beside her name plate. Rafael had seen it before, but now looked more closely.

“Is that?”

“The bullet they pulled out of me when that asshole shot me? Yes,” the judge told him. “Can’t say I was sorry Amaro killed him. But my husband convinced me to be a little more cautious. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Your honor?”

Barth opened her office door and addressed her clerk,

“Donna, has the officer brought the other vest?”

“Yes, I have,” Rafael heard a familiar voice say, before his wife walked into the room with a vest similar to the one the judge had just donned in her hands.

“Liv!”

They’d said goodbye in the car and he thought she’d gone on to the precinct.

“I’m glad you’re making this suggestion, Your Honor, because I know the reaction if it was mine,” Olivia said with a smile. She held out the vest to her husband. “Judge Barth thinks you should wear this and I don’t disagree.”

Rafael rolled his eyes.

“I’m not wearing that.”

Olivia looked at Judge Barth.

“What did I tell you?”

The judge sighed. Lawyers were why she visited her stylist every six weeks.

“Mr. Barba, you either put that vest on or I will have Jack McCoy replace you on this case,” she told him.

Rafael was surprised into silence. He was just a closing argument away from a guilty verdict; he was sure of it. If she removed him from the case, there was a chance the accused would walk. He looked at his wife. She said nothing and her face remained passive except for the slightest raise of one eyebrow. He swallowed and his adam’s apple bobbed visibly. Both women knew the judge had won.

“I’ll see you in the courtroom then, counselor,” Barth said and Rafael knew he’d been dismissed.

He and Olivia left the judge’s chambers.

“Is there time to go back to your office to do this?” she asked.

“No. Let’s go in here.” He opened the door to the same small room they’d spoken in the day before. _Was it really just yesterday that all this began_? Rafael thought.

He stripped to his undershirt and Olivia helped him don the protective vest; his shirt, tie, suspenders going back on over it. The shirt was a little tighter and they had to adjust the suspenders a bit, but overall he looked the same. She patted his chest with a smile.

“You just look a little chubbier, is all.”

“Thanks.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

He put his hands at her waist, sliding them up her sides.

“Where’s yours?”

“I’m not staying. I’m going to the school to meet the officer they’re putting in as a student teacher. Then I’m going to meet with Fin and see if he’s learned anything new.”

Olivia looked at the concern in his eyes.

“I’ll be fine. This is all probably just a bluff. Now go give that kick ass closing argument you were practicing and send it to the jury. We have a honeymoon to go on, remember?”

The newlyweds exchanged kisses and parted ways.

Rafael did give a kick ass closing argument, sent the case to the jury, which came back with a guilty verdict in less than two hours, freeing him up for the next four days to enjoy his honeymoon. Neither he nor Olivia received any more emails and as they prepared for their time away, started to forget about the threats. Their flight to Bermuda was early so Lucia suggested Noah come over the night before instead of pulling him from bed at 4 a.m. Rafael volunteered to take him to his mother’s house while Olivia finished last minute packing. She hugged and kissed her son goodbye, promising pictures and presents, then returned to the bedroom to double check the contents of their suitcases.

More than an hour later, Rafael returned home, takeout bag in hand. He’d texted Olivia, telling her he’d pick up dinner on the way home so they didn’t have to cook or do dishes. She didn’t reply but he didn’t give it a second thought. Not until he approached the apartment door and found it open. It wasn’t wide open, but neither was it barely open like it was pushed but not hard enough make it all the way for the latch to catch like Noah sometimes did. It was open like someone had left in a hurry and didn’t take the time to pull it closed.

Something told him to use his elbow to open the door enough to step inside.

“Liv?” he called, getting no reply. “Olivia, are you here?”

_Maybe she’d gone down the hall to the trash chute_ , he thought. But she usually closed the door behind her and took the key.

Rafael put the take out bag on the counter and pulled his phone from his pocket, sending her a text. Almost immediately he heard the sound of a duck quacking. That was Olivia’s phone. The first time he heard the sound she used for incoming texts he laughed and asked why. She shrugged and said, “You know. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….”

He spun around, looking for the source of the sound, finding her phone on the coffee table, next to her glasses and a copy of their itinerary and boarding passes.

Rafael was no detective, but he’d worked with law enforcement and seen enough crime scenes that didn’t like one to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Even though he know it was empty, he’d just started down the hall to their bedroom when his phone gave notification of a new email. His jaw clenched painfully as he read the brief message.

 

**_To: cubancoffee70_** _  
_ **_From: 1whoknows  
_ ** ******_Subject: Happy Now?_**

  ** _Judge Barth forced me to change my plans by making you wear that stupid vest. So since I couldn’t take you away from Olivia, I decided to take her away from you._**

**_How are you going to explain to Noah that you couldn’t keep his mother safe?_ **

**_I hope you’re happy now, counselor._ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Rafael has discovered his wife is missing, he calls in her detectives. Meanwhile, Olivia tries to figure out where she's being held.

Rafael’s head swam and for a moment he thought he was going to pass out.

Once his vision cleared he read the email again and then a third time, as if that would change the words. They didn’t. He looked at his watch. It had been almost an hour and a half since he and Noah left. That was the maximum amount of time Olivia could have been gone. If whoever abducted her was waiting and watched him and Noah leave. So logically, probably less, he told himself. He knew she wouldn’t go with someone willingly. Or would she? What if they told her they had him and Noah? Rafael stood there, contemplating all the horrible possibilities of what had happened to his wife, feeling like this was William Lewis all over again. The ticking of the clock on the wall reminded him time was passing by. Crucial time that he needed to find the woman he loved. Alive. He thumbed to his contacts and called Fin.

Within the hour their apartment was swarming with blue windbreaker-clad crime scene techs. They dusted every surface imaginable it seemed to Rafael for finger and hand prints. When a luminol/UV light scan didn’t turn up any blood in the entry hall, he breathed a sigh of relief and sent up a prayer of thanks for small favors. But just because Olivia wasn’t bleeding when she left their apartment didn’t mean she wasn’t injured, he reminded himself.

“Are you going to tell Noah?” Amanda asked him. 

She and Carisi had come with Fin when they heard about the email. After getting as much information as they could from the ADA, the two men had returned to the precinct. She remained behind, thinking he might want someone to talk to.

The techs had left, leaving behind smears of black powder and he’d taken to idly wiping the counter for something to do, but the cloth only served to make it worse. At the question, he shook his head.

“No. Not yet.” Rafael threw the cloth down angrily. “What do I say? ‘Sorry, son, someone took your mom because of me?’”

“Barba, this isn’t your fault,” the blonde detective put a hand on his arm. He shook it off.

“Have you read the emails? Of course it is!”

His green eyes flashed with anger. Anger at himself and whoever the person was who had Olivia.

“We’re going to find her and bring her home. Just like we did before,” Amanda tried to console him.

“But at what cost? She still isn’t completely over what that sonofabitch Lewis did to her. Did you know there are nights she still wakes up in a cold sweat, dreaming about him making her play Russian roulette? 

“Did you know when we make love her hands have to be free at all times? The first time I forgot  and grabbed her wrists over her head she went so limp and still I thought she passed out. Because struggling excited him.”

Rollins looked away, not needing to know those details about her lieutenant.

“Barba, you don’t need to tell me -- “

“Someone needs to tell you!” he shouted. “Someone needs to know how much Liv pretends to be fine. How she still goes to see Dr. Lindstrom every other week because she can’t get that bastard out of her head.”

Rafael shook his head. He looked Rollins in the eye and when he spoke again, his voice was deadly calm.

“Amanda, we don’t know who took her and what they’re doing to her. If we don’t get her back soon….” he trailed off.

Olivia opened her eyes but saw nothing but the inside of the cloth that covered her eyes. It was still quiet where she was being kept and she had fallen into a light sleep. At least the gag had been removed from her mouth and she was able to lick her lips. She wished she could straighten her legs. They were stiff from being bent for so long and her hip hurt from laying on it. Her back also hurt where the taser prongs had hit her. She wondered if they were still in her skin.  

A taser. She hadn’t seen that one coming.

Rafael and Noah had left for Lucia’s and she was double checking their suitcases when there was a knock at the door. A cautious glance through the peephole revealed an unfamiliar, but smiling woman on the other side. She was holding a reusable tote. Olivia opened the door. The woman said her name was Donna and she’d just moved in down the hall. She’d gone out for a few things and locked her key inside the apartment, she said, and asked if Olivia had the number for the building manager so she could call and ask him to come let her in. Sure, she said, laughing along with the woman’s self conscious embarrassed chuckle and turning to step toward the table where she’d left her phone. She never heard the woman reach into the shopping bag and pull out the taser or pull the trigger. The next thing Olivia remembered was a shocking jolt of pain and her legs going out from under her as her limbs simultaneously convulsed uncontrollably. When she hit the floor, unable to break her fall, she struck her head. Not enough to render her unconscious, but enough to keep her dazed as the taser effects began to ebb. Through fuzzy vision she saw the woman tear off a piece of silver duct tape and reach out toward her.  _ Dear God, no!  _ Olivia thought and tried to turn her head but felt like she was moving in slow motion and couldn’t avoid the sticky strip being placed over her mouth. Trying to keep her breathing slow and easy and not gag as the smell of the tape and the feel of it on her mouth brought back memories of William Lewis, she watched as the woman reached on top of the nearby bookcase where she kept her badge and handcuffs and took the cuffs down; placing them around her wrists and locking them tightly. Then duct tape went around her legs, binding them together from ankles to knees. She was on her side, facing the wall and her attacker walked around her, out of her line of sight. For a moment, she thought the woman might have left, but then suddenly something was tied around her eyes, blocking out all light.

“Time to leave, Lieutenant,” the woman said and putting her arms under Olivia’s, dragged her out the door and down the hall. 

Olivia could tell by the direction they turned that she was being taken toward the building’s service elevator. Her head was continuing to clear and instead of struggling, tried to focus on details that would tell her where they were going. The service elevator opened on each floor and in the parking garage; not on the main floor, so she assumed they were going to a vehicle in the garage. When the elevator doors opened, she was dragged in and dropped roughly to the ground. Olivia tried to twist her body so her shoulder took the impact instead of the back of her head.

The woman didn’t speak again as the elevator descended and Olivia heard the doors open. She could smell the distinctive odors of the garage: oil, fuels, tires. Her bare heels scraped across the rough concrete floor as she was dragged a short distance from the elevator to a vehicle and shoved inside. With brisk movements, the tape around her legs was replaced by heavy duty zip ties and her wrists were attached to the ones around her knees in an awkward reverse hogtie so she couldn’t raise her arms. Then she heard the door slide closed. City traffic was too heavy for her to be able to tell which stops were traffic lights or just stoppages. Olivia tried to count the turns, but after multiple right turns, realized her abductor was deliberately driving in circles. Eventually the vehicle stopped, the driver got out and opened the sliding door. 

“I’m going to take the tape off your mouth, lieutenant, but don’t try and yell. There’s no one around to hear you,” her abductor said. She ripped the duct tape off with a yank, making Olivia gasp as the adhesive pulled at her skin. 

“Thank you,” she managed after a moment.

The woman laughed harshly. 

“You won’t be thanking me when you never see your husband or son again,” she said.

“Donna,” Olivia said. “It’s Donna, right? Do you want money? Rafael will pay you. Just tell him how much.”

“You’ve got it all wrong, lieutenant. I don’t want money. I want your husband.”

Donna laughed again and Olivia heard the door slam closed.

After she had gone, Olivia lay listening for any clues that could tell her where she was, but could hear nothing. She inhaled. There was nothing new in the scents around her in the vehicle. She tipped her head to her shoulder and tried to rub the blindfold off, but it was tied too tightly and unable to raise her arms, couldn’t do much and there wasn’t enough room in the space she was laying to move her head against the floor and try and move it. All it did was release a fragrance from the fabric. A familiar fragrance. She inhaled again and had a sudden realization that she was blindfolded with one of Rafael’s ties! Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat she blinked back tears. He would have been back from Lucia’s by then and found her missing and called her detectives. Right now, until she could learn more about where she was, the only thing she could do was wait. Wait she did, thinking about her husband and son, eventually falling into the light sleep from which she was now awake.

Olivia strained her ears but still heard nothing. She wondered if the minivan was parked underground. When the car was moving, the heat had been on and she was comfortable. Now parked for she wasn’t sure how long, the temperature had dropped. In her light blouse and bare feet, she was cold. She moved her head against the carpet to release the scent of Rafael’s cologne and inhaled the comforting smell, hoping her detectives had found something that pointed them to who had taken her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is something completely new for me to write. I've had a little bit of emotional angst but never any actual harm come to my characters before and it's kind of growing on me. ; ) Please let me know what you think. Also I did just a bit of research on the effects of being tasered but not a lot. Hopefully this sounded realistic.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detectives figure out who has taken Olivia and race to rescue her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's finished! And I didn't think I'd even finish the first chapter! But I'm glad I didn't give up on it and pushed myself to write something different that my usual complete fluff. Thank you all for following along, sticking with it and as always, for your kind words!
> 
> And in case I haven't mentioned it lately, many thanks to Dick Wolf and his writers, because without them, I wouldn't have these wonderful characters to play with!

Daylight faded away and Rafael stood at the window of their apartment, watching the brightest stars appear in the sky; the only ones that could be seen over the lights of the city. After his blowup at Amanda, she left, telling him they would let him know as soon as they had any information and he had wandered aimlessly through the apartment, not able to concentrate. He tried to work and failed, tried to read the novel he’d bought to take on their honeymoon and failed. At one point he even fell to his knees on Olivia’s side of the bed, pulling her pillow to his chest to inhale her scent and prayed the woman he loved would be found. Even if he didn’t deserve to get her back, he told the heavens, Noah did. Rafael then decided it was time to let Noah know what was happening and needed to do it in person. He had picked up his phone to call his car, knowing NYPD wasn’t going to just let him take a random cab, when the device rang, startling him in the quiet, and making him drop it onto the carpet. It landed screen down and he scrambled to pick it up. The caller ID said it was Carisi.

“Yes?” He nearly shouted into the phone, heart pounding.

“We know who took the Lieutenant,” the detective told him, triumphantly. “It’s Judge Barth’s clerk. Her name is Donna Parkoff. Since she’s a county employee, her fingerprints were in the system. She either didn’t remember or didn’t think we’d check, because she sure didn’t take care not to leave any.

“Fin and Amanda are on the way to her apartment --”

“I’ll get you a warrant,” Rafael interrupted.

“Done, counselor,” Carisi assured him. “Besides, you can’t be involved in this.”

“I’m  _ already  _ involved, detective,” the ADA ground out, his jaw clenched.

“I know, I know. That’s not what I meant,” the detective softened his tone. “Listen, do you want to come here and wait or stay there? We’ll let you know as soon as we learn something.”

“I need to let my mother and Noah know what’s happened. Maybe I’ll stop by after I talk to them,” Rafael said. “Keep me posted.”

“You’ll be the first to know anything,” Carisi promised.        

Not surprisingly, it was a plainclothes officer driving the car that came to pick him up. Rafael was glad he wasn’t a Carisi type who wanted to chat about everything from his nieces and nephews to his favorite cooking podcast, and they rode in silence to his mother’s house. The officer pulled up at the curb and turned off the car. 

  
“I’ll wait here, sir,” he said. “Unless you want me to --”

“No, no. I don’t need to you to come with me,” Rafael told him, climbing out of the car. “Thank you.”

Lucia opened the door at his knock.

“Rafi! What are you doing here? I thought you and Olivia would be finishing packing.”

“Mom, something’s happened.” He stepped inside. “Where’s Noah?”

“Brushing his teeth. What’s wrong?” 

His mother took in the worry lines on his face and followed him up the stairs to the bathroom where his son was preparing for bed.

“Uncle Rafa! I mean, Dad!” Noah said through a mouthful of toothpaste. 

He’d asked if he could call Rafael, Dad when they got engaged but still switched between that and Uncle Rafa.

“Spit,  _ mijo _ .”

The boy did as instructed, rinsed and wiped his face with the towel Lucia held out, then spoke again. 

“Why did you come back? Where’s Mom? Does she have to work? Are you not going?” 

His face fell at the thought of not getting to spend the long weekend with his Abuela. From the first time they’d met, Noah and Lucia had formed a special bond. Olivia often wondered if it was because the woman filled the gap left behind in the absence of Sheila Porter. The woman’s motivations notwithstanding, Noah had grown close to his biological grandmother and was still having a hard time understanding what the woman had done. 

“Noah, ” Rafael paused, fighting back the surge of fear that rose up in his chest at the thought of the words he was about to say, “your mom is missing. Someone has taken her.”

His eyes were focused on the boy but in his peripheral vision Rafael saw his mother make the sign of the cross. 

“Taken her? Like Grandma Sheila took me?” Noah’s blue eyes were wide. “Who? Where is she? Did you bring her back?”

Rafael reached down and lifted the pajama-clad boy into his arms. He was growing so fast and was all gangly legs it seemed and really too big to be picked up, but the man needed something to hold onto. He carried Noah into the room he slept in at Lucia’s house and sat down on the bed with him in his lap.

“Yes, like Sheila. While I was bringing you here, someone came to our apartment and took your mother. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Sonny and Uncle Fin know who took her and they’re looking for her right now.”

Saying the words out loud made the whole thing so much more real. The last few hours had felt like a dream but telling Noah drove home the reality of it all. He looked at the boy’s trembling lower lip and felt like crying along with him. Pulling him into a tight embrace, Rafael pressed his lips to Noah’s curls. 

“They’re going to find her and bring her home. Just like she found you,” he murmured. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket and Rafael shifted to pull it from his pocket, still holding onto Noah, who was snuggled into his chest, sniffling. 

“Carisi, tell me you found her.”

“We have Parkoff in custody.”

“Liv?”

“Not yet. We’re taking Parkoff back to the precinct.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Both Lucia and Noah had heard his end of the conversation and she reached out to help him off the man’s lap as he stood. The boy wrapped his arms around her waist and clung tightly. Rafael dropped to a knee beside him.

“We’ll find your mom,  _ mijo _ ,” he said, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I promise.”

Noah just nodded, his face buried in Lucia’s sweater. Rafael kissed his head and rose to his feet. His mother put a palm to his face. 

“Bring her home to us, Rafi.”

At the precinct, Rafael was not surprised to see Dodds in Olivia’s office, but the addition of District Attorney Jack McCoy standing beside the deputy chief as they both watched and listened to Carisi and Fin question the suspect, raised his eyebrows. These days the former standout prosecutor focused his time trolling the electorate for votes rather than fighting for justice. But he was the first to greet him with a handshake and a hand on the shoulder, asking how he was. The ADA replied with moderate honesty. He wasn’t about to admit he wanted to burst through the door to his left and demand to know where his wife was being held. Then Dodds turned from the window and arched a bushy eyebrow at Rafael.

“When were you and Lieutenant Benson going to tell me you were married? When you got back from your honeymoon? Why did it take her being abducted for me to hear about the threats, Counselor?”

“Chief,” McCoy interjected, putting a hand between the two men, as the deputy chief had taken a step closed to Rafael.

“No, Jack, it’s okay,” Rafael said. “He’s right. We should have told him. But we disclosed our relationship a long time ago, and these threats were personal in nature, mostly aimed at me and Noah and didn’t have anything to do with Liv’s work so we were trying to keep it separate.”

Instead of taking a step back from Dodds, Rafael stepped closer, so he was invading the man’s personal space.

“And if it matters, until we got the first email, the only people who knew were Jack, the police chief and my mother. Then, Liv told Fin when she asked him to look into the emails, and I told Judge Barth. I don’t even think Rollins and Carisi know, unless Fin told them once this happened.”

As he thought back to when the detectives were at the apartment, neither had mentioned it. So they either didn’t know or didn’t think it was the time for matrimonial congratulations. He waved his hand at the one way window into the next room where Fin and Carisi were standing up from the table.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to find out what the detectives have learned from my wife’s kidnapper.”

Rafael turned on his heel and exited Olivia’s office, joining her detectives at the conference table. 

“Tell me we know something.”

“She wasn’t giving up anything,” said Fin. “Said she knows who Liv and you are because of being Judge Barth’s clerk. That’s it. But we found a taser, duct tape and zip ties in her apartment.”

The attorney winced at the thought of Olivia getting tased. But that would explain how she was removed from the apartment without a fight.

“Don’t forget her special drawer,” said Carisi, missing the glare the sergeant was giving him.

“What special drawer?” asked Rafael, who didn’t. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Fin sighed. 

“She had a drawer with a scrapbook full of photos and news clippings about you. And a blanket.”

“What was special about the blanket?” The photos were a little creepy but not unusual for a stalker. What was wrong with a blanket Rafael wondered.

Fin pulled a face.

“It was one of those specially made kinds. You know how you can have one made with a picture of your dog or your wedding photo on it? Well, this one is made up of lots of pictures of you.”

The thought of someone sleeping under or wrapping themselves in a blanket of his photographs turned Rafael’s stomach.

“Lovely,” he muttered.

“She doesn’t have to give anything up,” crowed Amanda, spinning around the laptop she’d been tapping away on while the others talked. “Her county ID shows she entered the courthouse garage a couple hours ago.”

“The courthouse? Why would she go there?” asked Fin.

“There’s a section of the garage that’s been closed off for repairs and renovations. It’s not supposed to reopen for several months,” Rafael told them.

“You could keep someone there and no one would know,” concluded Carisi.

“Go check it out,” Fin told the two detectives.

“I’m going with them,” said Rafael.

“Barba --”

“I’m going,” he cut off his wife’s sergeant’s protest. “This happened because of me. I’m. Going.”

Both Fin and McCoy insisted he wear a kevlar vest, saying they didn’t know Parkoff was working alone. As he adjusted the velcro straps, Rafael remembered earlier that week when Olivia had helped him put on a vest to wear in court and he closed his eyes, thinking of the kiss they’d shared. It had taken them so long to admit their feelings for each other, he couldn’t lose her now.

At the courthouse, Rafael directed the detectives to the bottom floor of the underground garage that was being renovated. Their footsteps echoed in the empty concrete cavern. It was cold and damp. Rafael knew what Olivia was wearing and unless Donna Parkoff had been kind enough to give her a blanket, she was probably freezing by now if she was anywhere down there. He followed behind Rollins and Carisi as they walked carefully and quietly through the space, shining flashlights into dark corners, even though he wanted to push past them shouting her name.

Olivia was lying there, blindfolded, wondering how much time had passed since she was taken from their apartment. She was certain Rafael and her detectives were looking for her, but did they even know who her abductor was? Based on the few words her captor had said, the SVU commander doubted they’d been contacted. She hadn’t been kidnapped for ransom. The woman seemed to want to keep her and Rafael apart. Permanently. A shiver ran through her that wasn’t related to the cold that she was feeling. Then she froze, hearing footsteps. More than one person was approaching and Olivia wondered if the woman who took her was working for someone or had accomplices. The door to the van slid open and she felt a bright light on face through the blindfold. Then she heard a cacophony of voices. Carisi’s first, then Amanda’s speaking into a radio and finally the voice she’d been afraid she might never hear again.

“Lieu!”

“SVU CO located. We need a bus in the garage under the courthouse.”

“She’s there? Is she hurt?”

“Rafael,” Olivia whispered at first, then louder. “Rafael!”

“I’m here, Liv. Goddammit, Carisi. Get out of the way.”

Fingers fumbled with the knot of the tie and then she was looking into the green eyes of the man she loved. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. She felt him exhale as if he’d been holding his breath the entire time and inhale again with a hitch. Then he sniffed and kissed the top of her head, before pulling back and kissing her forehead and finally her lips.

“Rafa.” 

Rafael moved his hands to cup her face.

“What? Are you hurt? The ambulance will be here any minute.”   
  
He turned his head to look out of the van. 

She shook her head, kissing his palm. 

“No, I’m not hurt,” she assured him. “But could you cut me out of these things?”

For the first time, Rafael took in her bound hands and legs.

“Jesus, Liv, why didn’t you say so?” He patted his own pockets, as if suddenly a knife would be there. 

“You were busy kissing me.” She smiled at him. “I’m sure Carisi has something.”

“I sure do, Lieu.” 

Her detective had been keeping a discreet distance while Olivia and Rafael reunited, but he heard her request and now leaned into the van to cut the zip ties. Once her legs were unbound, Olivia straightened them with a groan of relief, stretching her muscles, while Rafael gently rubbed her wrists.

“You’re hands are freezing, Liv!” he said.

“So’s the rest of me,” she admitted, leaning into the warmth of his chest. He’d pulled off the protective vest while Carisi cut her bindings.

Rafael moved to pull off his own sweater, but she stopped him.   
  
“I’m fine. Just hold me.” He did just that, and she worked her hands beneath his sweater .

“I don’t suppose I can get out of the ambulance ride?” Olivia murmured, feeling sleepy as his body heat began to warm her.

“No,” he said firmly. “You were tased. You need to get checked out.”

She wiggled experimentally.

“I think the prongs might still be in my skin,” Olivia admitted.

“Exactly.”

As they were talking, the ambulance arrived and the EMT’s opened the back and started to pull out the gurney.

“No,” she protested. “I’ll climb inside myself.”

“Liv,” Rafael said warningly.

“Rafa, I’m not getting on that and being lifted into the back of the ambulance like an invalid.” She countered. “Now help me out of here.”

He climbed out of the van and, keeping an arm around her waist, helped her slide forward until her feet touched the concrete floor of the garage. It was only then, Rafael noticed they were bare.

“Nope, nope, nope.” He shook his head and before she could protest, slid his other arm under her knees and scooped her up.

“Rafael! Put me down.”

“In the ambulance I will.”

He walked the few steps to the vehicle and the EMTs reached down to help her into the back, getting her settled onto the gurney and covered with a blanket. A second went around her shoulders. With a look that dared either the detectives or EMTs to stop him, Rafael climbed inside and sat down on the bench beside his wife. He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. Then he tucked the blanket around her and reached into his pocket for his phone.

“There’s a certain little boy who will be very glad I kept my promise.”

To no one’s surprise, Noah was still awake. Olivia spoke to him on the ride to the hospital and managed to convince Lucia not to meet them there. They would not be keeping her, she assured her son and mother in law. Noah wanted to see for himself that his mother was all right and Rafael told him she would need to talk to Uncle Fin about what happened, but they would see him as soon as they could.

A quick once over at the hospital and after the taser prongs were removed from her back, Olivia was declared no worse for wear, aside from some scrapes and chafing. Knowing her lieutenant wouldn’t be going anywhere but to the precinct when she was released from the ER, Amanda had brought her the spare pair of sneakers she kept in her office and a jacket and the two women headed there, along with Rafael, who wasn’t letting his wife out of his sight. On the ride, they filled Olivia in on what little they’d learned from Donna Parkoff, including that she was Judge Barth’s clerk. That information made Olivia realize why the woman looked familiar. The closer they got to the precinct, the angrier she got. Angry at herself for letting down her guard, but also angry at the woman who caused her and her family unnecessary worry.

“Where is she?” the SVU commander barked at Fin and Carisi, striding into the squad room.

“Lieutenant! So glad you’re alright.” Dodds came out of her office and greeted her with a broad smile and open arms. She wondered if he was about to hug her. “I also hear congratulations are in order.”

“Interrogation 1,” Fin replied.

“Thanks, Chief.” Olivia offered him a brief smile in return and walked past him into her office. 

She looked through the window at the woman sitting at the table in the room on the other side, and paused with her hand on the doorknob. Rafael caught up with her and put a hand at her waist.

“Liv?”

“I’m fine, Rafael.”

“I know you are.” He kissed her cheek. “I was just going to say give her hell.”

In the end, Olivia didn’t need to give Donna Parkoff hell. When she opened the door into the interrogation room, the woman looked up and said indignantly, 

“If you’re going to keep me here any longer, I want a --” 

She stopped when she saw who was standing there and finished with all bluster and bravado gone:

“-- lawyer.”

“I would agree, Ms. Parkoff,” Olivia said with a smirk her husband that would make her husband proud. “I just wanted to stop in and say hello. I’m going to go see my son now, and leave you in the capable hands of my sergeant and detectives. Then I’m going to go on my honeymoon.”

She turned on her heel and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Rafael was leaning against her desk, arms crossed on his chest, grinning widely.

“Well done, Lieutenant. Well done.” Then he looked at his watch. “Our plane leaves in seven hours. You still want to go? We can reschedule.”

Olivia stepped closer to him and linked her hands behind his neck. His found their way to her waist.

“Oh, we are going. We are going to go and spend four leisurely days in the sun. I’ll put sunscreen on your back and let you do mine while I’m wearing the new bathing suit that’s going to drive you crazy. Then we’ll go back to our room so you can peel it off and have your way with me.”

She delivered the last six words as a whisper in his ear, then raked his lobe gently with her teeth, making him shiver.

“Okay, you have me convinced.” Rafael dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Let’s go see our son, then get a couple hours’ sleep before we have to be at the airport.”

She kissed him back. Lingeringly.

“Sleep is overrated.”


End file.
